Written Answers Tuesday 18 May 2010

Scottish Executive

Alcohol

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are provisions in the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 that would allow for the ban on the sale of alcohol in off-sales premises before 10.00 am to be lifted and, if so, what its reasons are for not using such provisions.

Kenny MacAskill: Section 65(3) of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 requires a licensing board to refuse an application if the off-sales hours proposed in the application are such that alcohol would be sold for consumption off the premises before 10 am, after 10 pm, or both. Section 65(4) provides that the Scottish ministers may by order substitute other times for the times specified in section 3.

  The Scottish Government has not received any compelling arguments for extending or further restricting the hours set out in the act and has no plans to exercise the power in section 65(4).

Education

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils have been excluded from (a) primary and (b) secondary schools for violence in the last five years.

Keith Brown: The number of pupils excluded from primary and secondary schools for violence in the last three years and total primary and secondary pupil numbers are provided in the following table:

  

 
 2006-07
 2007-08
 2008-09


 Primary pupils excluded for violence 
 1,723
 1,751
 1,655


 Secondary pupils excluded for violence
 6,747
 5,916
 5,442



  In 2004-05 and 2005-06, due to problems implementing changes to the exclusions survey, several thousand exclusions were reported under "Other". This caused an undercount in many of the reasons for exclusion including those involving physical assault. So, the 2004-05 and 2005-06 figures for pupils excluded for violence are not comparable with each other or with later years.

Education

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pupils have been excluded from (a) primary and (b) secondary schools for verbal abuse in the last five years.

Keith Brown: The number of pupils excluded from primary and secondary schools for verbal abuse in the last five years and total primary and secondary pupil numbers are provided in the following table:

  

 
 2004-05
 2005-06
 2006-07
 2007-08
 2008-09


 Primary pupils excluded for verbal abuse 
 1,539
 1,209
 1,327
 1,298
 1,171


 Secondary pupils excluded for verbal abuse
 6,889
 6,422
 6,764
 6,110
 5,191

Housing

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many approvals for new affordable houses under the Affordable Housing Investment Programme were announced by the (a) previous administration in 2007 for 2007-08 and (b) current administration in (i) 2008 for 2008-09 and (ii) 2009 for 2009-10 and how many units were completed in (A) 2007-08, (B) 2008-09 and (C) 2009-10.

Alex Neil: The approvals for new affordable houses under the Affordable Housing Investment Programme (AHIP) for the years 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 are detailed in the following table:

  

 Approvals
 Announced


 2007-08
 8,000 


 2008-09
 6,070 


 2009-10
 8,136 



  The completions for the same years are as follows:

  

 Completions
 Out-Turn


 2007-08
 5,670


 2008-09
 6,220


 2009-10
 N/A



  Figures for 2009-10 are currently unavailable as they are being finalised prior to publication in the next Official Statistics update which has been pre-announced 27 May 2010.

  Details of the actual units provided through AHIP can be found on the Scottish Governments Official Statistics web page at:  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Housing-Regeneration/HSfS/NB-AHIP.

  Details of planned and announced units provided through AHIP can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/investment/ahip.

Non-Domestic Rates

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish all the information that it holds relating to the 2010 non-domestic rates revaluation and its consideration of a transitional rates relief scheme.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it has not yet published all information that it holds relating to the 2010 non-domestic rates revaluation and its consideration of a transitional rates relief scheme.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth calculated the cost of a rates relief scheme for 2010-11 as £195 million, as referred to in the chamber on 15 April 2010 ( Official Report c. 25305).

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth will publish his calculations of the cost of a rates relief scheme for 2010-11 as £195 million, as referred to in the chamber on 15 April 2010 ( Official Report c. 25305).

John Swinney: Extensive information relating to the 2010 non-domestic rates revaluation has already been published. The Scottish Assessors Association website at www.saa.gov.uk contains data on individual properties and high level summaries of rateable values for different business categories and areas.

  The Scottish Government has published a report on the 2010 revaluation which can be found on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/local-government/17999/11199/report/Q/EditMode/on/ForceUpdate/on.

Non-Domestic Rates

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it predicts the net income that it receives from business rates will have increased from 2009-10 to 2010-11 and, if so, by how much.

John Swinney: The revaluation of business properties takes place every five years. The income received from business rates in the year prior to a revaluation, in this case 2009-10, is depressed as many appeals against the previous revaluation (2005) are settled towards the end of the revaluation cycle. Conversely, the income received from business rates in the first year following a revaluation, in this case 2010-11, is over stated as the majority of appeals, which although backdated to 1 April 2010, will again not be settled until later in the 2010 revaluation cycle.

  Therefore, while the latest forecasts show that the amount of business rates income collected is estimated to be £2.04 billion in 2009-10 and £2.1 billion for 2010-11, the comparison between the years is distorted by the impact of appeals which deflates the income collected in 2009-10 and inflates the income to be collected in 2010-11.

  The purpose of revaluation over the five year cycle is to redistribute the tax burden, not to generate additional income.

Non-Domestic Rates

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason it did not issue a formal consultation on options for the transitional rates relief scheme.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when the decision not to issue a formal consultation on options for the transitional rates relief scheme was taken.

John Swinney: Decisions on the 2010 business rates revaluation were taken only after careful consideration of the impact on all businesses and sectors and following discussion with a range of key stakeholders, including key business organisations. Those discussions took place over several months in the period leading up to the announcement of the extensive package of business rate relief schemes on 10 February 2010.

Non-Domestic Rates

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive from what individuals or organisations it received correspondence on the subject of rates revaluation and a transitional relief scheme, as referred to in the chamber by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth on 15 April 2010 ( Official Report c. 25324).

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the correspondence that it has received on the subject of rates revaluation and a transitional relief scheme, as referred to in the chamber by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance And Sustainable Growth on 15 April 2010 ( Official Report c. 25324).

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive with what business community representatives it held discussions on the subject of rates revaluation and a transitional relief scheme, as referred to in the chamber by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth on 15 April 2010 ( Official Report c. 25324), and whether minutes or information relating to these discussions will be published.

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations have been made to it on the subject of rates revaluation and a transitional relief scheme, as referred to in the chamber by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth on 15 April 2010 ( Official Report c. 25324), and whether information on these representations will be published.

John Swinney: Throughout the revaluation process ministers and officials have met, spoken to, corresponded with and heard representations from a number of business organisations. This includes individual ratepayers, rating agents (who represent a broad range of clients) and business organisations, including the Federation of Small Businesses, the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, the Scottish Renewables, the Confederation of British Industry and Scottish Retail Consortium. Officials have also attended the Scottish Assessors ratepayers forum meetings, to which a broad range of ratepayers and business organisations are invited, and minutes of these meetings are available online at www.saa.gov.uk .

Scottish Government Funds

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33003 by John Swinney on 28 April 2010, how many of the 15,000 jobs supported by the Economic Recovery Plan are new and over what time period these have been supported.

John Swinney: The Economic Recovery Plan is estimated to support around 15,000 jobs in the Scottish economy. This figure is based on estimates of the impact of some of the actions within the Economic Recovery Plan. It is assumed that in the absence of these actions these jobs would have potentially been lost.

  The timing of the impact of all the actions taken within the Economic Recovery Plan varies according to each particular programme.

  For example, some of the actions such as accelerated capital spending, have a direct short-term impact through boosting demand alongside more long-term benefits, including supporting the retention of key skills and creating a lasting legacy of capital assets. In addition, measures within the ERP such as support for skills development, training and funding additional places for apprentices, help improve long-term employability and participation in the labour market.

Transport

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive on what date and at what time it (a) first contacted NorthLink Ferries Ltd to discuss the removal of the MV Hamnavoe from its Pentland Firth route in order to sail to Bergen, (b) made its decision to send the MV Hamnavoe to Bergen, (c) made public its decision to use the MV Hamnavoe to evacuate people from Bergen and (d) instructed NorthLink Ferries Ltd to make arrangements to send the MV Hamnavoe to Bergen.

Stewart Stevenson: (a) Scottish Government officials were first made aware of the emerging situation in Norway by NorthLink at 10:05 on 18 April 2010 when the company referred to this during its routine service update. The option of deploying a NorthLink vessel on this sailing was first discussed between NorthLink and Scottish Government officials on the afternoon of 18 April 2010. The issue was then discussed with ministers the same afternoon.

  (b) The decision to send MV Hamnavoe to Bergen to aid in efforts to repatriate stranded UK nationals was taken by ministers at 14:40 on 20 April 2010 once reliable information on demand, which showed that a sailing was justified, had been gathered.

  (c) The decision was announced by the First Minister at around 15:15 on 20 April 2010 during an interview with Sky TV. A press release was issued at 15:53 and was placed on the Scottish Government website by 17:00.

  NorthLink’s website first indicated at 14:42 on 20 April 2010 that consideration was being given by government to redeploying MV Hamnavoe. This was confirmed on the website at 16:08 and customers with bookings on the affected services were contacted directly.

  (d) NorthLink had been kept informed of discussions on an ongoing basis. Once Ministers’ decision was made, this was conveyed immediately to NorthLink. NorthLink confirmed their agreement to undertake this sailing in time for the announcement referred to above.

Transport

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive at what time on 20 April 2010 the MV Hamnavoe sailed from Stromness to Bergen.

Stewart Stevenson: MV Hamnavoe departed Stromness for Bergen at midnight on 20 April 2010.

  On 22 April 2010, during the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth on the impacts of the disruption to aviation caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland, the Cabinet Secretary stated in response to a question from Liam McArthur MSP: "As Mr McArthur will know, ferries cannot sail at the drop of a hat and the MV Hamnavoe was dispatched at 9 o’clock on Tuesday evening from Stromness to Bergen for an expected 18-hour crossing".

  The Cabinet Secretary misread the timeline available to him as 21:00 was the time when MV Hamnavoe became available for redeployment after the completion of her scheduled daily sailings on the Pentland Firth. Midnight was the earliest time she could actually depart once all preparations had been completed.

Transport

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive at what time on 20 April 2010 it was made aware that the Civil Aviation Authority (a) was considering reopening all UK airports later in the day and (b) had decided to reopen all UK airports.

Stewart Stevenson: Officials were alerted at around 16:50 on 20 April 2010 that the Board of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was soon to meet to consider reopening portions of UK airspace to enable airlines to resume operations. We first became aware of the CAA’s decision to issue new guidance, which enabled the phased reopening from 22:00 on 20 April 2010 of much of the closed UK airspace, when Dame Deirdre Hutton delivered her statement at around 20:20 that evening. At this time it remained the case that many aircraft, crew and passengers were some time off being able to rendezvous together for resumption of normal services. In addition, and notwithstanding the opening of UK airspace, the CAA correctly forecast at that point that there would continue to be some closures under the new guidance albeit to a lesser extent.